AN: Here we are, another piece to this one!
I hope you enjoy! If you do, please do let me know!
111
"I never want to find you gone again," Jean-Luc said.
Beverly laughed and dipped her head to kiss his neck. He laughed in response to the gesture which, if she did it one way, she knew tickled and, if she did it another, she knew drew a certain amount of sexual interest from Jean-Luc.
At the moment, however, he was too tired for the latter. She was sure of that. She'd used all that he had to offer in that sense, and it would be at least a half an hour before he was even able to think about more.
"I'm not going anywhere," Beverly said. "Unless, of course…you get a call in the morning and go running off to save the world."
"Wasn't that where you were going in that ship that's outside?" Jean-Luc challenged.
Beverly hummed.
"I was going to save our baby," she said. "That was my primary concern. If I happened to save myself and a few others along the way—all the better."
"Well—you're safe here," Jean-Luc said, rolling her so that she was lying beside him instead of still atop him.
She studied his face for a long moment.
"Will you be satisfied with that, Jean-Luc?" She asked. "Don't forget that I know you. You need a cause. You need a purpose. A duty."
Jean-Luc touched her face affectionately. He asked for a kiss she happily granted. She inhaled, peace flooding her body. They were here, together, talking about a life—a real life—for all of them to share. Beverly did feel safe here. She felt at peace.
"So, I shall have a cause, a purpose, and a duty, Beverly," Jean-Luc said. "I shall have a family. We'll keep the vineyard running. We'll make it better than ever. We'll love each other and we'll raise our family. That shall be my everything. Our family, and our life together, shall be my everything."
"And the stars, Jean-Luc?" Beverly asked. "I'm not scolding. But I know you. They will call. You're already involved in the Romulan rebuilding."
"Whatever we do, we do as a family," Jean-Luc said. "You have my word. If we…have a family ship, so be it. If we should work with Starfleet again, we do so as a family. Nobody gets left behind."
"What about Laris?" Beverly asked.
"Nobody gets left behind," Jean-Luc repeated, emphasizing the words a bit more than before.
Beverly smiled at him.
"You know I love you, don't you?" She asked.
"It seems I might have heard that before," he teased. "However, I have it on good authority that you do not, in fact, love me even a fraction of the amount that I love you."
Beverly laughed.
"We'll just have to agree to disagree," she said.
"As long as there are no more serious disagreements in our marriage, I think we'll be fine," Jean-Luc said. He kissed Beverly again. She closed her eyes. She let her hands trail over his skin, her fingertips lightly taking in the sensation of him there. That was the most important thing, in many ways. He was there. For some time, she'd doubted if they'd ever be this way again. For longer than that, she'd doubted that this would ever be anything permanent.
And, now, Jean-Luc Picard wanted to build a home with her. He wanted to dedicate himself to their family.
"Would you rather have a boy or a girl, Jean-Luc?" Beverly asked, when the kiss broke.
Jean-Luc looked surprised, and then he settled into the question and considered it.
"I've never given it much thought," Jean-Luc said. "I suppose that I've always simply felt like it was something like the natural order of things that, if I were to have a child, it would be son. At the very least—that the first would be a son."
Beverly laughed.
"You shouldn't let Laris hear you say that," she said.
"Well—I did say that I hadn't given it much thought," Jean-Luc said. "I'm only mentioning past assumptions. Of course, I never would have imagined that I'd be entering into a Romulan trust bond to become part of a married triad. Nor did I ever imagine that I would be marrying a Romulan woman, within that group of three, with a Romulan child to be born to us."
"But you don't mind that she's a girl?" Beverly asked.
"Not at all," Jean-Luc said. "Nor will I mind if this baby is also a girl."
He rubbed his palm a little roughly over Beverly's belly, pressing a bit harder than she would have ideally enjoyed. She refused to scold him, though. He wanted to be involved, and she wanted him to be involved.
She simply kissed him and rolled over, toward the bedside table where her tricorder rested—frequently used to reassure herself, when worries crept into her mind, that all was well with anyone and everyone in her family. Beverly rolled back and set the settings on the tricorder to read the baby's sex. She'd kept it turned off until now, not wanting to ruin the surprise. She offered the tricorder to Jean-Luc with a smile.
"Go ahead, Papa," she said. "Tell us if it's a girl or a boy. But, remember, you can't be upset either way."
Jean-Luc blanched slightly, but he smiled. Beverly didn't call out the fact that his hands trembled slightly or that he fumbled the tricorder just a little. He scanned her, and then he stared at the tricorder long enough that she started to feel a little bud of anxiety starting to grow in her chest.
"Jean-Luc?" She asked.
He smiled at the tricorder, and then at her.
"Maybe not the first," he said. "But the second will be a son."
Beverly laughed.
A son. Another son. A pang of selfishness, perhaps, ripped through her. Maybe this one wouldn't leave her. Maybe this one would stay.
"A baby boy," she said.
Jean-Luc turned the tricorder for her to see it.
"A baby boy," he echoed.
"We'll need a name," she said.
"That's simple," Jean-Luc said, leaning over her to put the tricorder. "Jack. It's only right."
Beverly sat up on her elbow.
"It's only right?" She asked.
"In many ways, I felt like I was responsible for you becoming a widow," Jean-Luc said. It wasn't the first time that Beverly had heard that particular confession, but it hurt each time.
"Jean-Luc…" She started.
"I don't say that for sympathy, Beverly," Jean-Luc said. "I say it to communicate my feelings. Once you came aboard the Enterprise, there were times that…well…I believed that I was doing what I could, for you and for Wesley, in honor of Jack. There were times that I felt that, with Wesley, I was as close to a father as I would ever become."
"He certainly loves and respects you in that way," Beverly offered.
"In this way, Jack can be a significant part of our son's life, as is only right."
Beverly sighed and turned over Jean-Luc's explanation with her own words.
"Fine," she said. "But—we'll name him John or Jean. Jack is a diminutive of that. We can still call him Jack, and we can honor Jack, but…I would like him to be named after his father."
"How could I disagree with that?" Jean-Luc asked. "John, I think."
"Fine," Beverly said. "So—Luke or Luc as a middle name?"
Jean-Luc smiled at her.
"I never saw myself as being the type that named his child only after himself," Jean-Luc said.
"John is different."
"A variation on a theme," Jean-Luc said. "We shall name him…John…Lawrence."
"Lawrence?" Beverly asked. "A variation on a theme?" She added.
"Something like that," Jean-Luc said. "And a way to honor his non-biological mother. Lawrence is not so terribly different from Laris. And we shall call him Jack."
Beverly smiled at him.
"I love it," she said.
"You aren't simply agreeing with me?" Jean-Luc asked.
"No," she said. "I mean it. I love it. And I love you."
Jean-Luc pulled her into his arms, and she came willingly. She kissed him, closing her eyes as she did, completely content in his love.
111
"I expected that you might be hiding," Jean-Luc said.
Laris looked up from her spot on the ground, pulling at weeds in one of the patches where flowers grew—or theoretically grew—around the house. She smiled at him.
"If you would like me to disappear," she offered, "I could probably find a spot."
"I have no doubt you could," Jean-Luc said with a laugh. He offered a hand in her direction. "Are you terribly busy or could I interrupt your work?"
"These flowers look terrible," Laris said. "However, they're dead, and they won't be any more dead whether I rip them from the ground now or two months from now."
She took Jean-Luc's hand, and he steadied her while she got to her feet. Romulans were, honestly, an incredibly fit species, in general. Beverly knew a great deal more about it than Jean-Luc did, but he could see that Laris managed getting to her feet, despite the baby she carried, with a great deal less struggle than most people he knew could have done it—and that would have been without the added obstacle of the baby.
"You're welcome to do whatever you like to the gardens," Jean-Luc said. "I'm afraid that I haven't spent much time out here, but the goal is to get the vineyard running as smoothly as it once did—perhaps even better. I certainly think there's room for you to make it more beautiful."
He tugged her hand and she walked with him, naturally, as though they'd been walking together for years. She was shorter than him, so he kept his steps a little shorter so that she could walk in a relaxed manner.
"Your presence, here, makes it more beautiful simply by default," Jean-Luc offered. Laris looked at him, shocked at first, and then she laughed. Jean-Luc couldn't help but laugh, as well. "Was it really that terrible an effort?"
She squeezed his hand.
"It was a very appreciated effort," Laris said. "And I'm flattered. I find it a much nicer approach than busting my lips open against my teeth."
Jean-Luc laughed as he recalled his faux-pas.
"Well, I do like to try a number of methods before settling on just one," he said. "I might've heard somewhere that Romulans preferred a rougher approach than humans did to all things related to mating."
"Oh—I assure you, it wasn't kissing they were discussing," Laris said. "And—that isn't always the case. We prefer, as you say, to employ a number of different methods, depending on the desired outcome."
Jean-Luc laughed and stopped walking. Laris stopped, too, and faced him. She was blushing green. She could tease, along with any of them, but she couldn't quite keep the color from rising in her cheeks. And Jean-Luc found that, quite unexpectedly, it made his heart catch in his chest. He touched her cheek, brushing a thumb over the spot where the color hadn't yet faded.
"You really are quite beautiful," he said.
"I like it better when you're being sincere," Laris offered. "You are handsome, yourself. And charming…when you're not trying too hard."
Jean-Luc laughed.
"I thought I should tell you that—we discovered this morning that Beverly is carrying a boy."
Laris smiled. This smile was tight-lipped. She nodded her head.
"A son," she said. "That's wonderful."
"Indeed," Jean-Luc agreed. "We've decided to name him John Lawrence."
"After his father," Laris said.
"And his…uh…his Romulan mother," Jean-Luc said, suddenly at a loss for the proper vocabulary. "Unless, of course, you have some great objection to the name."
She gave him the same smile as before.
"I think it's a beautiful name," she said. "And—I'm flattered."
"We'll call him Jack," Jean-Luc said. "It…uh…also pays homage to…"
"Beverly's first husband," Laris said.
Jean-Luc was surprised she knew about Jack. But, then again, he wasn't all that surprised.
"And my best friend," Jean-Luc said. He waited a moment. "I do hope that you're not upset that we found out the baby's sex without you."
"Of course not," Laris said. "He's your son."
Jean-Luc felt slightly struck by the statement. It made his stomach ache, briefly, in an unexpected way.
"Our son," Jean-Luc said. "Beverly would be quite hurt to hear you say otherwise. There is to be no division in our marriage…in our family. There is only "our" family, from what I understand. Have I misunderstood?"
Laris tensed visibly and then softened.
"No," she said. "You're right. There's to be no division. I only meant that you have rights to do whatever you like—or need—to do. You're his father."
Jean-Luc nodded. He wasn't certain that he fully believed her explanation, but he didn't doubt it entirely, either. The truth, in this case, may not be absolute, but neither was the falsehood.
"And what of our daughter?" He asked. "Has she been active and enjoying the warmth of the sun and the fresh air of the gardens?"
Laris smiled.
"She's active now," Laris said, "since we stopped walking. If I stay busy, she seems to stay more still. When I stop…"
"She's restless," Jean-Luc said. He extended his hand. "May I?"
Laris took his hand and placed it on her belly. After a moment, he felt the kicking beneath his palm. He smiled at the sensation.
"She is quite strong," Jean-Luc said.
"Well—she's a Romulan," Laris said.
"She is that," Jean-Luc agreed. "May I—kiss her Mommy?" He tested out the parental names for them on his tongue.
"You spent most of the morning doing it, I imagine," Laris said with a half-shrug. "I don't see why she would be opposed to it, and I doubt she'll be hard to find."
Jean-Luc laughed quietly.
"I have forgotten which name is for each of you," Jean-Luc said.
"Beverly will be Mommy," Laris said. "And I will be Mama. We'll keep things uniform for all the babies…now and future, if there are to be anymore. That way, there won't be any confusion."
"I approve," Jean-Luc said. "May I kiss her Mama? I would like the chance to redeem myself, and perhaps to practice a bit, before our bonding ceremony."
Laris smiled at him and nodded, stepping closer to him.
"A little practice is good for all of us," she said.
She looked up at him and he brushed his thumb over her lips. She puckered gently, and kissed his thumb as it passed. He leaned and replaced his thumb with his lips, closing his eyes and focusing on enjoying the kiss and releasing the nerves that he felt.
She kissed him back, and it wasn't long until the kiss had gone on a little longer than he'd first intended, with the two of them sampling each other's lips in the warm sunlight.
When it broke, Jean-Luc didn't hide from himself the fact that the kiss had only served to heighten how attractive he found the woman in front of him.
"Well?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at her.
"Better," she said. "It still needs a little work, but you're improving."
She grinned at him, narrowing her eyes slightly, and he laughed in response.
"I guess I'll have no choice except to keep practicing," he said.
"Hmmm," she hummed. "Pity. But—we have to do what we have to do."
"Indeed, we do," Jean-Luc said. He reached and put an arm around her, gently nudging her back in the direction of the Château. "Come on…lets go and have some lunch. You and Beverly can lament my shortcomings together."
Laris slipped her arm around him, and walked comfortably with him.
"Oh—I don't know about that," she said. "Then, we wouldn't have anything to talk about while we eat."